Frog Portage or Portage du Traite was one of the most important portages on the voyageur

Voyageur

Voyageur is a French word meaning "voyager" or "traveler".Voyageur can refer to:*Voyageurs, persons who transported furs by canoe during the fur trade era....

 route from eastern Canada to the Mackenzie River

Mackenzie River

The Mackenzie River is the largest river system in Canada. It flows through a vast, isolated region of forest and tundra entirely within the country's Northwest Territories, although its many tributaries reach into four other Canadian provinces and territories...

 basin. It connects the Saskatchewan River

Saskatchewan River

The Saskatchewan River is a major river in Canada, approximately long, flowing roughly eastward across Saskatchewan and Manitoba to empty into Lake Winnipeg...

 and Churchill River

Churchill River (Hudson Bay)

The Churchill River is a major river in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, Canada. From the head of the Churchill Lake it is 1,609 km long. It was named after John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough and governor of the Hudson's Bay Company from 1685 to 1691...

 basins. From 1774 it was the site of Fort du Traite where the North West Company

North West Company

The North West Company was a fur trading business headquartered in Montreal from 1779 to 1821. It competed with increasing success against the Hudson's Bay Company in what was to become Western Canada...

 built a fort to intercept furs intended to go to the Hudson's Bay Company

Hudson's Bay Company

The Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, or "The Bay" is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. A fur trading business for much of its existence, today Hudson's Bay Company owns and operates retail stores throughout Canada...

 at Fort Churchill

Prince of Wales Fort

The Prince of Wales Fort is a historic fort on Hudson Bay across the Churchill River from Churchill, Manitoba, Canada.-History:The European history of this area starts with the discovery of Hudson Bay in 1610. The area was recognized as important in the fur trade and of potential importance for...

 on Hudson Bay

Hudson Bay

Hudson Bay , sometimes called Hudson's Bay, is a large body of saltwater in northeastern Canada. It drains a very large area, about , that includes parts of Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Alberta, most of Manitoba, southeastern Nunavut, as well as parts of North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota,...

. Today remains of the plank road are still visible.

The route ran from Cumberland House, Saskatchewan

Cumberland House, Saskatchewan

Cumberland House is a village in Census Division No. 18 in north-eastern Saskatchewan, Canada on the Saskatchewan River. It is the oldest community in Saskatchewan and has a population of about 2000 people...

 north up the Sturgeon-Weir River

Sturgeon-Weir River

The Sturgeon-Weir River is a river in east-central Saskatchewan, Canada. It flows about 110 miles south-southeast to join the Saskatchewan River at Cumberland House, Saskatchewan. It was on the main voyageur route from eastern Canada northeast to the Mackenzie River basin. Its steep gradient led...

. At its source the 300-yard Frog Portage ran, with a 20-foot drop, to Trade Lake on the Churchill a few miles west of the mouth of the Reindeer River

Reindeer Lake

Reindeer Lake is a lake in Western Canada located on the border between northeastern Saskatchewan and northwestern Manitoba, with the majority in Saskatchewan. The name of the lake appears to be a translation of the Algonquian name...

. The route then ran at least 250 miles northwest up the Churchill to Methye Portage

Methye Portage

The Methye Portage or Portage La Loche in northwestern Saskatchewan was one of the most important portages in the old fur-trade route across Canada. It connected the Mackenzie River basin to rivers that ran east to the Atlantic. It was reached by Peter Pond in 1778 and abandoned in 1883 when...

 which led to the Mackenzie basin. For background see Canadian canoe routes (early)

Canadian canoe routes (early)

This article covers the water routes used by early explorers of Canada with special emphasis on the fur trade.-Canada and Siberia:Both Canada and Siberia were explored mainly by river. Both countries have many navigable rivers with short portages between them. There are no serious barriers to canoe...

.